Alabama beats Notre Dame for BCS championship

By CNN Staff

Updated 2:48 AM ET, Tue January 8, 2013

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Photos:Photos: BCS National Championship

BCS National Championship – Quarterback AJ McCarron of the Alabama Crimson Tide celebrates his team's win over the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Monday, January 7. Alabama defeated Notre Dame 42-14 in the 2013 BCS National Championship game at Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. View the best photos from the college football bowl games.

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Photos:Photos: BCS National Championship

BCS National Championship – Crimson Tide cheerleaders celebrate on the field after the game.

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Photos:Photos: BCS National Championship

BCS National Championship – Alabama head coach Nick Saban celebrates with the trophy after defeating Notre Dame. His team won its second consecutive BCS title and third in four seasons.

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Photos:Photos: BCS National Championship

BCS National Championship – Alabama's AJ McCarron acknowledges the crowd during the game on Monday.

BCS National Championship – Notre Dame quarterback Everett Golson looks on after failing to convert on third down against Alabama.

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Story highlights

Alabama scored on its first three drives

Tailbacks Eddie Lacy and T.J. Yeldon both rush from more than 100 yards

Notre Dame was ranked No.1; Alabama was No. 2

Alabama rode the tide of a commanding halftime lead to beat Notre Dame 42 to 14 to win the BCS National Championship game at Miami Gardens, Florida.

The No. 2 Crimson Tide scored on drives of 82, 61 and 80 yards against the top-ranked and undefeated Irish in its first three drives of the game. They added a 71-yard scoring drive with 31 seconds left in the half to take a dominating 28-0 lead.

By that time, despite the fact that the half of the game was yet to be played, many commenters on Twitter were jokingly wondering if Notre Dame would come out of the locker room for the second half.

The Irish did, but it did not get much better for them.

In fact, one of the biggest hits of the game on Alabama's quarterback A.J. McCarron came from his own teammate Barrett Jones.

The two teammates disagreed on a play call and had to call a timeout to get it cleared up. McCarron got in his lineman's face and Jones pushed him some three yards back, a feat that Notre Dame could never do throughout the game.